A recent Goldman Sachs analyst describes all the best perks for young bankers

Maybe you'll get Beyoncé tickets. Now get back to work.
AP
You've probably heard of the long hours and grunt work that entry-level employees on Wall Street have to endure.

But what about the perks?

Of course there's the high pay, but young bankers get compensated in lots of other ways, too — like having their dinners, and late night snacks, paid for and getting cold hard cash on weekends.

Alan Li, a former Goldman Sachs junior banker who just wrapped up his two-year analyst program, went into detail about banker perks on his podcast "The Vampire Squid."

To start off, every investment banker at Goldman Sachs gets an American Express corporate card for meal and travel expenses, Li said. They get $25 for dinner if they stay late enough, and another $25 for every four hours they spend working past that point.

"We get one at midnight, 4 a.m., 8 a.m., and it continues on depending on how long you stay. But usually people won't fully utilize that because they're not thinking about eating a cheeseburger at 4 a.m., but they're trying to get home," Li said.

Car services are also included after 10 p.m. on weekdays and weekends — to and from the office and client sites. With bad traffic, those rides could take two hours and cost up to $200, said Li, who worked in tech, media, and telecom banking in Goldman Sachs' San Francisco office.

Bankers also get a $75 meal stipend per day if they work on the weekends. As for travel, they get to fly business class if the trip is over 2,000 miles.

Then there's perks that come from firms trying to win the bank's business. Data-room providers, which contain secure online data on companies that's used for due diligence, are eager to win over Goldman Sachs bankers. They provide a lot of perks — especially for analysts, since they're the ones comparing data rooms and have a lot of say on who to use, according to Li.

The data-room companies host events, ranging from happy hours to free lunch in Goldman's office. They also have sushi nights, buy bottles at clubs, and give out tickets to Beyoncé concerts and San Francisco Giants games.